Earth Day -Vintage Bikes and Beer

On Earth Day my husband and I joined the Grand Rapids Vintage Bicycle Club for their first ride of the year. Our friend Ted organizes the rides for this group and he also fixes old bikes, particularly a lot of cool looking Schwinns. We met at a bar about one mile from our house and it was a clear sunny day, but windy and cold. I rode my bike with big thick warm mittens so my hands were warm (I learned from the last time I rode mitten-free on a cold windy day). I also had on a giant pink scarf which kept my neck warm. I was glad I opted for jeans today instead of a skirt.

I had never gone on a ride with this group before and I met a lot of nice people. My husband and I were the only two people not riding old bikes. I really want one now, I love the old Schwinns, especially their big comfy seasts and big metal baskets. At this bar, I had a vanilla porter which was delicious and warmed me up nicely!

We left this bar and rode to a local brew pub called Brewery Vivant, about 2 miles away. I rode in the bike lane on Wealthy Street and then turned on to Lake Drive. The bike lane on Wealthy Street by the hospital is not good. The street has not been swept for months and it has many potholes, and deep uneven grooves in it. Today there were two large piles of yard waste IN THE LANE that people thought was an acceptable place to dump it. So for a long stretch of Wealthy, it was ironic that I had to ride next to the bike lane because the bike lane was in such bad shape. What good are bike lanes if they are not maintained?

I covet this pink bike

 

At Brewery Vivant, I sat next to and chatted with a woman who likes to knit and we became friends on Ravelry. It's always nice to meet a fellow yarn addict! There were probably about 12 of us at Vivant, and it was fun that all of us biked to the bar.

When we went outside, we had a group photo and we all went our separate ways. It was a nice earth day ride/pub crawl! I'm happy that I spent mine car-free.

Why I didn't bike today

Call me a wimp. Call me a baby. I am both. The unseasonably warm weather is gone. The high for today is 43 degrees with a chance of snow flurries. I was going to commute to work by bike today but did not.

The failure doesn't stop here. The other excuses I have for not riding my bike are:

• I have a head cold or a really bad case of allergies.
• I have to run at lunch today, I'm training for the 25K distance in the Fifth Third River Bank Run and I need to run at lunch. I have to run at least 4 miles and I didn't feel like packing extra clothes or figuring out how to haul my gym bag with me. I will have to take a shower after I run. Luckily, where I work, we have showers...thus the need for my gym bag, shampoo, etc. 
• I have a professional dinner meeting after work from 5-8pm. The clothing issue looms again, and will it be too dark for me to ride home? Will the temperature plummet to freezing?

So on top of it being too cold for me, I felt overwhelmed by all that I have to do today. I can't even begin to imagine all the changes of clothes I would have had to have packed to be a bicycle commuter today.

Is being too busy a good enough reason not to ride my bike?  Am I just a lazy American?  I think the key to bicycling more often is preparation and organization. I failed today.

Easter Ride

My husband and I biked to Easter dinner at his sister's house, 2.7 miles away. It was about 57 degrees today and very windy but sunny. We mostly took side roads and we had to cross Burton Street, a busy road, but overall we encountered very few aggressive drivers (we still had a few drivers accelerate as they passed us on Hall Street. Why do cars do this? What is the point?).

It was my inaugural ride for my Yakkay helmet and the first time I've ever worn a skirt while biking. I must say, wearing a skirt was my favorite part of the ride. I felt free. Unbound. It was easier than pants, and I felt feminine and sassy. :) It was also nice to ride and talk to my husband, it was like we were on a little date.

My in-laws raved about my helmet and it was nice to be the only couple to have arrived car-free. Riding home was nice because we had eaten too much and it felt good to move our bodies and burn some calories after indulging. Happy Easter everyone, and GO TIGERS!

Yakkay

My new Yakkay helmet arrived yesterday! The helmet is from Denmark, and was distributed from a very cool bicycle shop in Chicago, called Heritage Bicycles.  Heritage makes handcrafted bicycles in Chicago.

http://www.heritagebicycles.com/
The cover can slip off for a more sporty look, so you get two helmets in one! I can't wait to break it in!

Yakkay has a lot of covers to choose from, I can't wait to use mine.

http://www.yakkay.com/